Following a collapse in funding between 2022 and 2024, momentum is building for startups backed by energy sector corporations.
There was a sharp jump in the first quarter of 2026 in the dollars spent in startup funding rounds backed by oil and gas companies.
The total value of investments in the first quarter of 2026 was $3.7bn as compared to $1.7bn in Q1 2025 - a year-on-year increase of over 117%. The increase is coming from a smaller number of larger funding events, as the number of startup rounds backed by oil and gas companies fell 11% to 31 in Q1, compared to 35 in the year-ago period.
This is the latest sign that momentum is picking up in the sector after a nearly 50% collapse in funding dollars between 2022 and 2024.
